


Achilles Heel

by Maleficent265



Series: Reader Inserts - The Flash [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Eobard Arc Reddemed, F/M, Fluff, Love/Hate, Romance, Romantic Tension, sweet talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-08-15 01:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8037358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maleficent265/pseuds/Maleficent265
Summary: “Stay.” You breathed finally regaining control and grasping his chin before turning to look him square in the eye. There was a brief flash through his irises, the darkest hue brightening for a moment before he finally flickered his lids to a close. That might have been asking too much but if he really wanted to be with you, sacrifices had to be made, starting with the Reverse-Flash and ending with this… “You can’t go home.”





	1. Achilles Heel

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think and let me know if I should continue this!

_“You tried to tell him… “_ Came Eobard’s low growl as he wheeled his chair toward your workspace and slapped a vibrating hand on the desk, causing your eyes to immediately land on the blur of his digits; the whirring sound of his speed filling your ears as he rattled your drink cup, pencils, and computer monitor… His voice was thicker than usual - _darker_. “You tried to warn Barry, didn’t you?” **  
**

With your teeth pinching against the inside of your cheek, you took a deep breath and closed your eyes… You were so _stupid_. Thawne had been watching you like a hawk for _weeks_ and suddenly you had the bright idea to try and slip Barry a note, detailing everything he needed to know about the man he thought was Harrison Wells… But you barely had the damn thing stuffed in your pocket before Eobard rolled up and phased a hand through your jeans to snatch that condemning piece of paper.

Forcing your eyes open and dropping your stare back to his hand, you saw that very note crumpling beneath his palm as he continued jolting your desk… It didn’t matter if it had been written in code because Eobard Thawne was smarter than anyone in both your time and his and he’d probably been able to decipher most of it within minutes… Which was undoubtedly the reason he was currently rattling your desk with the threat of shaking it right off its legs.

“I don’t want to let you hurt Barry.” You finally responded which, in hindsight, was probably a bit too honest considering this was the man who was currently the Scarlet Speedster’s greatest opposition. And within an instant, Eobard was out of his chair and looming over you with a still vibrating chest pressing against your shoulder; the abruptness of the motion causing you to flinch sideways before a bruising grip coiled around your bicep and prevented you from pulling away entirely..

It could have been the way you whimpered and mindlessly clapped a hand over his angry grip, your fingers curling against his to make a futile attempt at breaking free, or possibly the way you stepped closer and pressed into him, your side all but flattening and sinking against his warm torso as he continued holding fast to your arm… Whatever the reason, Eobard eased his grasp and stopped quaking long enough for you to gain your bearings and rip yourself out of his clutch, the warmth of his body fading as you pulled away. With your fingers gripping at your worktop, you quickly backed into your desk, practically tasting the danger in his lingering presence, heavy and unpredictable, as you locked on to his enthralling blue stare…

It was a completely foreign feeling to be standing next to the man you once knew as Harrison Wells, what with him being habitually settled in his wheelchair like any other normal person with a handicap but this… He was taller than you’d anticipated and it had a way of knocking you off guard whenever he dropped the facade and mounted a stance with legs that seemed to go on for miles. His height was definitely a threatening factor along with his speed and overall combative nature now that you’d been caught in the middle of his lie but somehow, you couldn’t bring yourself to run… It didn’t matter if he could catch you in the blink of an eye, the fact that you weren’t even _trying_ to get as far away from this man as humanly possible was enough to make you question your own morals even if the effort was futile.

 _“Don’t do it again.”_ His voice was just above a thick whisper, the heat in his tone sending shivers straight down your spine because fuck, he was frightening now that you knew he was the man in the yellow suit.

“And if I did?” You asked, forcing yourself to be brave and blinking at him like a deer about to get wrecked by a semi-truck.

Eobard’s face twisted a bit, his brow slanting and lips pressing into a hard line before narrowing his eyes and snapping, “I won’t be the only one not going home tonight.”

And, _okay_. That’s all you needed to know… Message received. If you tried warning Barry about his identity again, you’d end up on the next Amber Alert and probably never be heard from again.

With a final glare, Eobard snatched the arm of his wheelchair and started dragging it toward the corridor but before he could take another step, you quickly grabbed at the backrest, which inadvertently caused him to stop and snap his stare back on you… You tried not to gulp, _really_ , but this new reality where Harrison Wells was no longer a good man who was sadly stuck in a wheelchair had you confused no matter how many times your mind continuously screamed stranger-danger.

 _“Sorry.”_ You muttered, quickly letting your hold go slack and backing into your desk once more. “I’m just used to you needing help, I guess.”

He frowned then, the expression lacking the malice he’d adopted ever since you found out he was truly Eobard Thawne… He drew in a breath almost as if he intended to say something but instead of formulating a response, his mouth fell closed and he shook his head before quickly pitching over his chair and once more making to drag it toward the door.

* * *

You weren’t sure why but you couldn’t seem to keep your hands from shaking… This wasn’t the first time he’d watched you work but now that he was no longer good ole’ Doctor Harrison Wells, you couldn’t seem to shake those nervous little jitters you got whenever Eobard was around. To make matters worse, the rest of the team still trusted him and had no problem leaving the two of you alone while they all went out to either go hunt down rogue metas or, depending on whether or not said member was a speedster, call it a night and head home. So, more often than not over the past few weeks of this fresh hell, you were isolated with the enemy and it was all you could do not to break away and sprint for safety…

It was one thing being stuck in the lab with him but it was an entirely new evil to conquer when he’d get bored and spend lonely evenings staring at you. It might not have been so bad if he hadn’t practically been living in your ass and breathing down your neck if you so much as lifted a finger but you were so fucking tired of walking on eggshells, maneuvering carefully day by day just to feed the beast and keep him from dragging you under. And it didn’t help that all your recent projects revolved around the subject of stopping the mysterious man in the yellow suit… The man who happened to be watching your every move like a hunter stalking its prey. Needless to say you didn’t have much luck making progress in _that_ department, especially since Eobard liked to slip you assignments here and there under the radar that concerned him and his mission to get back home.

But _shit_ , he made you so nervous… 

With a sharp sigh, you shoved away from your desk and quickly mounted a stance before all but jogging through the cortex because damn him, you just couldn’t take this anymore… You were nearly at the door when a bright red torrent flashed in front of you, causing you to flinch sideways and stumble back as if the hot flare had been a giant cobra snapping at your throat.

 _“Where are you going?”_ Eobard growled, now moving at a normal speed as he took a single step forward.

“Home…” You bit, crossing your arms and glaring up at him. “Some of us actually have that luxury.”

Eobard cocked his head and narrowed his eyes… Based on his ruffled expression and the way your heart was all but jackhammering against your ribs, you were pretty sure neither of you knew where this new stroke of bravery had come from but it didn’t matter because regardless of how much courage you mustered up to stand up to him, at the end of the day, Eobard would always have the upper hand…

Quickly latching a hard grip around your bicep with inhuman speed, Eobard wrenched you forward and snapped, _“Careful.”_

And that was it… With a righteous fury and enough spunk to put him in his place, you rapidly jerked yourself out of his grasp and planted your hands flat against his chest, throwing enough weight into your step to shove him back. Barely catching himself, Eobard _clapped_ a hand on the doorframe and jerked an angry stare directly on you; his eyes holding enough merit for you to feel the need to take a defensive step back and wait for the grave repercussion of that little move.

Tensing his shoulders and bending forward like a cat readying to pounce, he pursed his lips and glared down at you like he wanted nothing more than to phase through your body and rip you in half… But instead of retaliating or correcting your ballsy counter, he simply pulled himself upright and stepped to the side to give you silent permission to break into the corridor and run home.

Frowning, you chanced a quick-thinking glance upward to find him leaning back against the doorframe, his searing stare now trained on the ground before clenching his eyes and growling out, “Go home…”

And with that, you warily swept passed him, not daring to look back as you bolted down the corridor and trying very hard not to think of what would happen if he changed his mind and decided to run after you.

* * *

The tension between you and Eobard hung in the lab like some sort of unpleasant toxin, making it hard for either of you to function or breathe whenever the two of you were within proximity and naturally, now that you’d pissed him off and shoved him out of your way only five days previous, you avoided him like he was a walking virus… And much to your surprise and delight, your yellow suited speedster didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Sure, his presence was continuously heavy in the lab since he was still pretending to be Doctor Harrison Wells but save for a few fleeting glances, grunts of acknowledgment, or random eavesdropping whenever Cisco hovered over your desk to discuss theories on the identity of the Reverse-Flash, he’d pretty much been leaving you alone and that would have been great if it wasn’t for your conscious growling at you from the depths of your mind to fix the problem before he pulled a Brutus and knifed you in the middle of the lab. Eobard had already blindsided you once after you not so cleverly decided to be smart and uncover the biggest treachery this team had ever seen… Or _yet_ to see was more like it.

“I’m so stupid.” With a groan, you quickly dropped your head to your desk and began lightly pounding your temple against the worktop before clenching your eyes and breathing out a quiet, “ _Stupid… Stupid… Stupid.”_

It wasn’t until you heard the ever so daunting sound of wheelchair breaks clicking that you froze in place, ceased your pity party and stopped banging your head against your desk like a mental patient. Rolling your head over the hard wooden surface, your stare locked onto Eobard as he sat there watching you with an unreadable expression; his head cocked like a curious cat and hands folded in his lap as if he couldn’t find anything better to do with them while he waited for you to notice his presence.

“Burning the midnight oil?” Came his casual conversation starter like this was normal banter - like he hadn’t been blackmailing you for the last few weeks - _threatening you_ \- keeping you under his merciless thumb for his own selfish gain.

You glared in response and slowly lifted your head away from the desk before growling out a dry, “I guess.”

“Why don’t you take the night off...” He wasn’t asking and if that didn’t have a way of getting under your skin, nothing did.

 _“Can’t…”_ You snarked before swivelling your chair back toward your computer monitor and tapping the stack of files resting on the corner of your desk. “Caitlin gave me a few things to research before going home tonight. Apparently, everyone is a little concerned over the dickbag speeding around in the yellow suit so…”

 _“I just wanted to give you a break.”_ He snapped, now gripping his armrests like he was anchoring himself against them so he wouldn’t rip away from his chair and phase you somewhere beneath the city.

“Oh, great!” Was your sarcastic reply as you rolled your eyes. “Maybe you should try running off a bridge.”

“You’re not being careful.” He warned before slowly getting to his feet and stepping forward to loom over head.

“Does it matter?” You huffed, crossing your arms and rolling your chair a bit before tipping your head back to look up at the man you were trying your hardest to hate. “You’re just going to kill me anyway, right?”

Eobard pursed his lips and stared down at you with that familiar blue gaze of his before letting out a strained exhale through his nostrils as if he was unsure whether or not to burn that nonsense right out of your mind and tell you otherwise or confirm your suspicion and let you know in his own douchey way that your days were numbered. He remained silent though and it had a way of setting you on edge…

“Forget it.” You finally growled, pushing yourself out of your chair and brushing past him.

There was just a moment - a brief flash of hesitation that caused you to halt mid-step on your way for the door before forcing yourself to look back at Eobard, only to find him watching you through that burning gaze of his and standing stone-still with a set jaw like he was still debating on how to go about keeping control of the new dynamic the two of you had created with one another.

“You know I can’t hate you… No matter _who_ you are, I don’t think you could ever push me that far but...” You started honestly, briefly dropping your eyes to the ground and taking a deep breath. “I just can’t stand the thought of looking at you and seeing someone else. You’re not _my_ Harrison. You’re familiar but you’re not him anymore… Not really.” You mustered up enough courage to look at him once more to find that he’d taken a few steps closer. And before you could stop yourself or pull away to make a break for the exit, you said, “I know you’re lying to everyone because you have to but I think you should know, you’re not my enemy. I know you should be but I still want to believe in you like I did before you became the monster under my bed.”

And with that, you were walking out and now trying very hard to wrestle the flush that was working it’s way up your neck, not daring to look back and gauge his reaction to the way you’d just poured your heart out. 

_Stupid… Stupid… Stupid._

* * *

The following week, you’d made yourself scarce and basically tucked tail and ran the other way if you even heard the sound of his quietly-motored wheelchair rolling through the corridor because no matter how much you wanted to believe that Eobard had some good hidden under all that dark, he was still the Reverse-Flash and a wild animal was still a wild animal even after trying to bring it indoors. Not that avoiding him would work for long, what with him being nothing short of a speed demon with a hidden agenda that somehow predominantly involved your participation.

And sure enough, six days into playing dodge-the-speedster, Eobard finally managed to corner you in the cortex by zipping up and flanking you from the rear, a forceful burst of air smacking at your back and causing you to rip yourself away from Cisco’s desk in order to face the threat that was now standing directly behind you. With your heart practically beating against your ribs, your gaze fixed on Eobard Thawne as he pitched over his chair and quietly prodded at the control panel on his armrest as it continually buzzed after being dragged at such an impossible speed. He hadn’t bothered to say anything or even shoot a glance your way and the last thing you wanted was to for him to finally look up to see you anxiously fidgeting with your hands or staring up at the ceiling like you were test subject that was failing some awkward social experiment. 

The fact that neither of you had spoken since you fed him some insipid bullshit about wanting to believe in him and stormed out before he could actually reply had you mentally kicking yourself and wishing you too could somehow phase through solid objects just to bury yourself somewhere in the walls of the lab so you could hide from the embarrassment of being that painfully honest with Central City’s most wanted. Oh but fuck, you meant every word of it… After all, this was a man you’d once respected and you would give just about anything to see him back up on that white horse, charging in and rescuing the team like he used to back when he was still everyone’s knight in shining armor. His armor had definitely fallen and taken the form of a yellow suit but you wanted to believe that knight wasn’t dead and gone - more than anything, you wanted to believe he could be a hero.

“What’s it like being you?” You began without thinking.

Eobard blinked, his fingers stilling against the chair’s catches before lifting his icy gaze to regard you with an addled expression…

“I… Uh… I meant-” You stuttered, biting your lip and frowning as he continued staring. “You’re so quick. There’s probably nothing better than getting out of your chair and running as fast as you can, right?”

Huffing a small laugh and pulling himself upright, Eobard smirked and crossed his arms before answering, “It feels limitless. Like you’re unstoppable and free.”

“Like flying?” You asked, barely able to contain your smile after watching Eobard’s laughter lines crinkle around his eyes and mouth, his grin downright contagious as it split his habitual stony features. 

“I could show you.” His crystal clear eyes held your stare and before you could react, he was stepping closer, still giving you a broad smile and holding his hand out as a silent invitation for you to grab hold and let him be your wings.

You made to take his hand and give him the opportunity to show you the world through his eyes but the second your fingers brushed against his, it suddenly felt too real - too natural… You were going to lose this man and you couldn’t really afford to let him get closer than he already had. Eventually, he’d go back to his future or get found out and tossed in the pipeline by the rest of the team. _This_ , whatever the hell it was, couldn’t end well and the thought of that outcome having the potential to break your heart had you slowly pulling away.

One by one, Thawne’s digits curled into his palm before he managed a low, _“What?”_

“Nothing, I just…” With a gulp, you shook your head and took a step back before bullshitting, “I have to pee.”

Setting his jaw, Eobard frowned and jerked his head toward the corridor that lead to the bathrooms before saying, “Then go pee.”

 _“Sorry…”_ You muttered before dashing past and darting out of the cortex.

By the time you reached the bathroom door, you were all but bashing your way through, panting and making your way to the sink before twisting at the tap and gathering a handful of cold water to dab against your cheeks and neck. 

_Stupid… Stupid…. Stupid._

Balancing against the porcelain with your elbows and dipping your chin to your chest, you practically dropped your head into wet hands before whimpering out a small, nearly-repressed sob… _Fuck_ … He just had to turn on that charm of his, didn’t he? He couldn’t just be the dickbag you’d been trying to label him for the last few weeks and rub you in all the _wrong_ ways…

It didn’t matter if he was the Reverse-Flash and stood for everything you were currently fighting against because shit, you were falling hard and you had no idea how to pull the breaks on this crazy train but you knew you were headed for trouble, especially since the feeling wasn’t mutual. You were being used and by the time his little mission was said and done, you’d be broken in half and left alone to pick up the pieces… 

It was probably too late because even before you found out he was Eobard Thawne, you’d let him get too close but now you were scrambling to board up the windows of your heart and take cover because this man was a storm… A beautiful storm. He was a force of nature and there was nothing you could do to other than surrender it all.

“Stupid.” You groaned. “I’m so _dumb_.”

You probably could have stayed in that bathroom for the rest of your life and hidden within the four walls of some nasty stall but with a loud _clap_ echoing through that small space as if someone had slammed a door to one of the cubicles, you froze and slowly lifted your head until you were staring straight into your reflection, your own uneasy expression winking back at you as you listened and then… 

_Boom!_ Another door slammed...

Jumping and spinning around, you pressed your spine into the sink, your hands white-knuckling against the counter before letting out a jittery, _“Caitlin?”_

Nobody answered but there was a rattle - an ever so subtle _whirr_ rumbling through the bathroom before it picked up speed, causing the stalls and mirrors to clatter and clank as the vibrations around you grew faster… And just when it stopped, you were about to pass it off as a low-level earthquake but a slick grey hand with long boney fingers flew over one of the stall doors that had been slammed. Your breath hitched in your throat for just a moment as you watched overgrown nails scratch at the barrier between you and whatever the hell was on the inside of that stall before pushing away from the sink and side-stepping toward the exit as quietly as possible...

It would have taken just a few strides more to actually reach the corridor and run for help but the very instant your hand gripped the knob, you heard whatever had been hiding in the bathroom with you knock itself against one of the stall walls… You jerked your stare back in the direction you’d seen that gaunt hand only to find that the stall that had been housing it was wide open and completely empty… 

_Okay?_ You weren’t hallucinating, _right?_ You definitely saw _something_ …  

Regardless of whether or not you’d really seen some freakishly grey figure haunting one of the stalls in the restroom, you weren’t going to give it a chance to pull a Grudge on you and drag your ass to some dark and scary lair. 

So, with your heart slamming against your ribs, you turned your gaze and finally made to twist against the knob so you could slip away and bolt for the cortex but a low, guttural hiss sounding off from the depths of the restroom had your eyes snapping back toward the stalls… And there, hovering near the ceiling and digging it’s long nails into the back wall, was a macabre being; discolored and skeletal as a high pitched groan pushed from its lungs, its menacing stare fastened directly on _you_.

And that was all the convincing you needed… Unfortunately, now that you’d locked eyes with this unknown predator, you knew you weren’t crazy and you’d certainly seen whatever the fuck this thing was. It wasn’t alive enough to be a deformed meta and somehow seemed a little too spry to be a ghost but judging by the menacing sneer flashing across it’s hollow face, you weren’t really sure if it was important enough to be categorized as something right then and there because it clearly wasn’t friendly.

Oh, fuck…

With an ear piercing shriek, that rawboned figure shoved off the wall with an alarming amount of speed and charged straight at you. You practically fell through the bathroom door, scrambling back and all but landing on your ass in the middle of the corridor before screaming out for the only person in the lab who had just enough grit in his character to take this thing down.

_“Eobard!”_

Just as quickly as you called out, his red torrent shot through the corridor before swallowing you whole and wrapping around you like a sheet, warm and vibrant as if you’d summoned a small piece of the sun. Then, with strong fingers, Thawne was crouching at your side and gripping your biceps, causing one of your hands to dart to his wrist before anxiously scuffling your feet against the floor and pointing toward the restroom...

“It was-there was a freaking…” You sputtered out, still looking toward the bathroom as the door hung wide open, revealing nothing but stalls, sinks and mirrors. “It was there… It looked like a… I’ve never seen…”

 _“What?!”_ He snapped, frowning and shaking his head before lifting a hand to your face and pressing a calloused thumb into the skin of your jaw, effectively pulling your gaze away from the bathroom long enough for you to swallow down the lump in your throat. “What happened?”

Quickly clapping your hands over Eobard’s shoulders and pressing your nails through his shirt, the muscles beneath pulling taut beneath the bite of your fingers, you growled out, “I swear, if you pulled a Project Walrider in the basement when nobody was looking-”

 _“Walrider?_ Y/N… What-”

A rough howl elicited from the bathroom, causing both you and Eobard to jerk your stares toward the door to find whatever the fuck it was floating in mid-air and cocking its head; its dark, hollow eyes locking onto Thawne for a brief moment before it curled its withered lip up into a snarl and flashed a set of festered teeth.

 _“That!”_ You barked, kicking and scrambling back once more as it hovered closer, growling and wrapping it’s cadaverous hands around the doorframe as Eobard tried keeping a firm grip on you. “That right there!”

 _“Damnit.”_ He grit, clenching his teeth and setting a tight grasp on your arms before throwing his torso forward and all but crashing into you as he scooped you up and hurtled down the corridor.

Even though he was hauling through the lab at top speed to escape the danger tailing and moaning from somewhere over his shoulder, one thing was for sure, Eobard was absolutely right… Being fast enough to outrun the sound barrier gave you a sense of indomitability and in that moment, curling your arms hard enough around his neck to hinder his breathing and fisting your grip into the dark fabric of his shirt, for the first time in your life, you were untouchable and free - freed by the same man who had been your captor for the last few harrowing weeks and that didn’t bother you at all. Not with you all but flying through the corridor - not with Eobard’s scarlet current, vibrant and fiery, acting as your own personal aesthetic, flooding the halls and glistening in his wake. Burying your head against the bend in his shoulder and closing your eyes, you took a deep breath and inhaled everything that was Eobard Thawne before furrowing your lips against his neck, the skin almost instantaneously flaring under your touch and causing him to run just a bit faster.

You weren’t sure if it had been you smoothing an almost-kiss over his throat or the fact that he was building up momentum for something only a speedster could manage but suddenly you were buzzing against him, the loud hum filling your ears as his body began uncontrollably juddering. The next thing you knew, you were slamming shoulders-first into a pebbled wall you blearily recognized, the bulges jutting from the surface causing you to grunt and clench your eyes around the pain of those hard swells as they pushed against your back.

It wasn’t until you felt your palms dragging up Eobard’s hard abdomen that you realized you were no longer running and opened your eyes, quickly jerking your hands away and ironing yourself further into the wall to get away from his solid frame… His stance was resolute and if you didn’t know better, you could have sworn he’d pressed that much closer; the ache in his eyes somehow managing to hold you in place as leaned in.

With your chests heaving and barely brushing against one another, there was was a brief moment that you thought he was going to pitch himself that much further down and kiss you senseless but before either of you could move, that subtle dronning from before filled your ears and rattled at your insides, no doubt signaling the presence of that ghost-figure floating somewhere nearby. Eobard pulled back and set his gaze on the wall at the other side of the capacity - on what you could only assume was the door to this strange room… The very room he’d dragged you to the day you discovered his identity.

“What's this place again?” You breathed, frowning at how breathless you sounded, almost as if you had been the one running.

“We’ll call it a lair.” Eobard puffed out a low chuckle and crossed his arms before turning back to you, only this time, instead of all but pressing you into the wall, he kept himself just out of reach. “Are you hurt?”

Considering the hell he’d put you through over the last few weeks, you wanted to snap off and make a smart-mouthed comment that would render him speechless but with him staring at you like that… Like you were something precious and invaluable, you could only manage a fleeting, “I’m good.”

_Stupid… Stupid… Stupid..._

_“So…”_ You tried, swallowing down the lump in your throat and finally pushing away from the wall to get a good look at Eobard’s very secret and also very creepy lair. It was probably functional for his purposes, whatever those were, but the way it was built reminded you of an elaborate room in some sketchy sanitorium or even a place where someone would be thrown into solitary confinement. The only thing that was missing was a rubber ball… “This looks like a panic room.”

Eobard snorted but otherwise didn’t respond which gave you the unfortunate feeling that this was a room he often came to when things got too hard. So what if he was the bad guy, he was still human after all and probably stressed out over being stuck in an era that paralleled the dark ages compared to his time.

“It’s not…” You tried again. _“Right?”_

“Not on good days.” Came his low answer, causing you to lock eyes and hold his lamentable stare for a short time before forcing a small smile.

“It’s nice.”

 _“Nice…”_ He repeated, tilting his head and raising a brow.

You nodded… It wasn’t incredible, what with the lack of color, decor and anything else that would have made it feel homey but it was well lit and very clean and with couple couches and a few speakers, it might’ve even had the potential to be the lab’s rec room. Not that Eobard would ever really go for that but… “I like it. I’m glad you showed me.”

“I didn’t really have a choice.” He countered.

“Right…” You shrugged and bit down on your bottom lip before asking, “So, what exactly was that… Thing?”

“It’s called a time-wraith.”

Lifting an eyebrow, you came back with, _“Creepy.”_

“They usually are.”

“What does it want?”

His dark blue eyes found you, unwavering and penetrating but somehow terrified all at once as if he was actually afraid of something. Whether it was the wraith or something else, Eobard was scared and you didn’t know which to opt for, panicking right along with him or crashing against him so you could wrap your arms around his neck and let him know everything would be alright. 

You took a step closer, quickly deciding that you _wanted_ to comfort him but before you could reach out, he was rasping out a low, “They usually pursue someone who’s traveled through time and doesn’t have any idea what they’re doing.”

You froze, rolling that sentence through your mind long enough to decipher the meaning… “I thought you knew-”

“No.” Came his low response before shaking his head and dropping his eyes to the ground. _“No…”_

“But you’re…” You started, still efforting to wrap your mind around this strange situation. “You want to go home, _right?_ Knock out the Flash and get back to your time. That was the plan, wasn’t it?”

“It _was_ …” Eobard pinched his cheek between his teeth and lifted his stare. “But that was before I met you.”

Your heart seemed to do something akin to a backflip before you were dangerously aware of the way your chest narrowed against the pressure of his stare, the way his throat stretched around a thick swallow as he continued watching you, and the way he took an unhurried step closer; his hand jerking once as if he suddenly had to quell the urge to reach for you - suddenly had to remind himself that he wasn’t allowed to touch, even if he’d made himself vulnerable and needed that contact in order to feel comforted… And for someone like Eobard, that was easily way beyond his comfort zone.  


“I know I lied…” He started again, his voice rough and straining as if whatever he was trying to say was pulling the life right out of him. “And I know I don’t deserve to be anywhere near you but before all this - before I became your Reverse-Flash; the way you _looked_ at me made me feel bulletproof in way a that my speed never has and when you were there... “ He paused and ran a hand over the back of his neck before pushing forward, causing you to slot yourself against the wall once more. “When you were there… When I _look_ at you…” He corrected, slicing away the remaining space between you; close enough now that you could feel the warmth of his body wrapping around you like flames. “I’m _home_.”

Pursing your lips and trying very hard to steady yourself on a pair of shaky legs, you exhaled a jittery breath and asked, “That’s why that wraith is here? You’re _confused_... Because of _me?”_

He nodded, his mouth changing shape and hardening as if he’d been sucking against a sour candy for the better part of the hour… “What do you want me to do?”

_“What?”_

“I’ll do it.” He said again, his tone nearing the slope of desperation as he towered overhead and let his gaze burn through you. “Anything you want, just tell me...”

With a slight frown, you shook your head because fuck, you had no idea how to actually beat one of those ghost-things and you were in no way qualified to advise him how to brush his teeth, let alone battle a wraith. But there was something in the way his mouth parted, the way his pretty eyes shuttered and dipped to the swell of your lips, and the way he tipped over you that had you shivering; close enough for you to breathe in his heavy exhales, one after another as they tumbled into your waiting mouth. 

He wasn’t talking about the wraith… He was talking about _you_. 

Eobard wasn’t running anymore and in that moment, he’d given you full control - given you everything you needed to either build him up or tear him down because maybe, somehow after all the mistakes and all the deceit he just wanted to be with you - he just wanted to be _yours_... It was hard to pinpoint exactly how you felt but there was a spark that had been ignited long before he became the Reverse-Flash and somewhere between Harrison Wells and Eobard Thawne, you’d found yourself tumbling over the edge without really understanding what it meant… Your feelings, whatever they were, were unconditional and they didn’t change when he did.

You weren’t sure who moved first but with a brush somewhere between heaven and hell, your lips came together in one slow, soothing stroke that had you reaching out to curl your hands into the fabric near his collarbone and coax him forward. Taking that final step toward you, Eobard opened his mouth and tilted his head to get closer, his chest pushing against yours before melting under your touch as your hands slid to either side of his neck; your thumbs brushing the sharp line of his jaw and causing a groan to roll into your mouth.

“What do you want me to do?” He asked again, this time barely above a whisper before gripping at your hips and pushing you flush against the pebbled wall. With another nip that targeted your bottom lip, Eobard’s hands dragged up your sides and over your shoulders until he was able to twist his long fingers in your hair and give a light tug that caused your neck to crane back.

“The man in the yellow suit...” Came the breathless response that somehow managed to hold Eobard in place - keep him from devouring you as he dropped his forehead against yours and let your words tumble through his mind. “You have to kill him. He doesn’t belong here anymore…”

Puffing out a rough exhale against your chin and still holding fast to the Y/H/C tresses at the base of your skull, he nodded… It was hesitant but ultimately, knowing that he had to sacrifice pieces of the identity that already seemed so lost, he agreed. He couldn’t be with you and still be the Reverse-Flash. _“What else?”_

“Leave Barry alone.” You growled, trying to sound severe but your voice rushed out in the form of a low purr and instead of startling him, Eobard simply chuckled and tilted your head to the side in order to drag his lips up the shell of your ear.

 _“Naturally_ … Anything else?” 

_“Stay.”_ You breathed finally regaining control and grasping his chin before turning to look him square in the eye. There was a brief flash through his irises, the darkest hue brightening for a moment before he finally flickered his lids to a close. That might have been asking too much but if he really wanted to be with you, sacrifices had to be made, starting with the Reverse-Flash and ending with this… “You can’t go home.”

 _“Y/N…”_ After what felt like a few prolonged minutes, Eobard finally opened his eyes, revealing that gorgeous shade of blue that had the ability to pull you in like a riptide. Pursing his lips and drawing his brows into a line, he finally said, “You _are_ my home.”

With a big-headed smirk curling around his mouth, Eobard pushed forward once more to peck at your lips, not bothering to care about the fact that the tell-tale vibrations from a wraith as it ghosted through the corridors was still looking for him on the other side of the wall.

“We should probably deal with that-” You tried just before Eobard swallowed your voice down with a slow moving kiss that made your knees knock together and your fingers curl tighter against his chin. 

Suddenly that wraith didn’t seem too important, not when Eobard’s wind-bitten lips were committed to smoothing over every inch of skin he could possibly reach... 

Gently pinching at his hip and gaining just enough leverage to catch him off guard, you bumped him into a backstep and quickly found yourself licking into his mouth like your only desire in life was to learn his taste. He didn’t waste time after that, not with you taking out your frustration over him being an insufferable jackass and doing your best to consume him from the inside out… His arms circled around your torso and with inhuman speed you were back against that very same pebbled wall; your hands braced against his chest as he sucked your bottom lip into his mouth.

You would have stayed in that room with him for the rest of your life; let him envelop and destroy you - let him continue torturing you in a way that was completely different from what he’d done over the last few weeks but by the time your hands were twisting into the mess of dark hair on top of his head, that unsettling vibration fell over you again… Stronger and building up enough force to rattle the entire building, Eobard finally tore away from you and quickly spun himself toward the back wall just in time to see that wraith moving through; its bony arms phasing into the room before the rest of it’s haggard body followed.

With its hollow eyes locking onto you, you instinctively reached for Eobard, your fingers curling into the hem of his shirt to pull him closer… “It’s after _me_ , isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t recognize me. I’ve switched bodies, I’ve covered my tracks but with _you_...” Eobard reached back and wrapped a strong clutch around your arm before stepping back and hunching forward like a cat that was about to pounce… “It senses my attachment.”

“What do we do?”

_“Run.”_

And before you could panic over the fact that Eobard didn’t have a plan to beat this thing, he was scooping you up and charging recklessly in the opposite direction.

_..._

**_~~To Be Continued...? Probably. Or not...? I have no idea.~~ _ **


	2. Trojan Horse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next part! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as the first! I plan on doing one more chapter and giving this story closure.
> 
> Thanks for reading and be sure to leave me a quick review in the comment section below. :3

Tapping your fingers against the long island in the middle of the kitchen, you hooked your ankles around the legs of your barstool and glanced to the clock hanging above Eobard’s sink before biting down on your bottom lip with enough pressure to make it throb between your teeth. Waiting wasn’t typically this torturous for you but then again, the whole time-wraith thing was something of uncharted territory and having a boy toy with speedforce charging through his veins who was equally susceptible to whatever the hell those things could do, didn’t help your nerves, especially when he was out there without anyone backing him up.

With your hands dragging through a mess of hair and an impatient sigh ripping through your throat, you tilted your head back and stared through the crystal clear ceiling overhead before clenching your eyes and listening to the rain beat against the glass panels above you; the low drum of thunder rolling in the distance and practically rumbling through your chest.

_Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…._

It didn’t matter if he was smart or fast, and it sure as hell didn’t matter if he looked you dead in the eye and swore he’d be back in just a few minutes because that was roughly an hour ago and you were starting to realize the error in letting him go out there alone, especially with that apparition hanging over your heads like some sort of toxic smog just waiting to settle down around you and swallow you both whole. 

With your leg bouncing up and down and your fingers twisting awkwardly against one another, you sucked in another dry breath and opened your eyes before whispering, “Come on…. Come _home.”_

And almost as if he’d heard you, the familiar rush of red lightning zipped through the kitchen, causing you to squint and lift an arm to protect yourself from the onslaught of wind lapping at your face until that final burst of air subsided long enough for you to blink through now dried eyes and fix your stare on the drenched figure standing on the other side of the island.

There were clear lines of water running from the ends of his hair, over the dips of his face, and dripping off the tip of his nose and chin and it had a way of making him look _miserable_ , what with him sleeving rain-doused fabric across his forehead and slapping a wet hand down against the counter between you. With those feral eyes narrowing into slits and his teeth grinding in a circular pattern, Eobard looked about as wild as the storm pounding outside but that didn’t stop you from reaching forward, slinging your arms around his neck, and wrapping him up in a bruising hold that caused him to quickly reciprocate by bracing his hips against the island and letting his hands catch and slide around your rib cage to pull you closer.

“I didn’t think you were coming back.” You whispered, closing your eyes and shivering against him as the water from his drenched upper body soaked into your clothes.

An amused snort puffed against your neck, a warm contrast to his chilled embrace as he snaked wet arms around your middle, and with a low rumble moving through his chest, he said, “Nothing could have stopped me.”

You pulled back, the tips of your fingers smoothing across the cooled skin beneath his collar before asking, “What took you so long?”

“I wanted to make sure I lost it.” He replied, pinning you with a serious expression before pursing his lips.

“So…” You tried, efforting to read his quiet gestures to no avail until finally flicking your stare back at the clock. He’d been gone for so long that _surely_ , he would’ve knocked that wraith straight off your trail but there was a tell-tale sign behind his bright blue eyes that had you doubting his success. _“Did you?”_

Eobard’s eyes shuttered briefly before tensing his jaw and grinding out, “I don’t know…”

Giving him a slow nod and moving yourself back into your stool, you dropped your elbows on the slab between you and lowered your head into your hands before blinking a few times. “Are we _safe?”_

“Not until that wraith goes back through the time-breach.”

At that, you lifted your gaze to find Eobard still holding you with hard eyes before forcing yourself to ask, _“Time-breach?”_

“It needs to leave this era.” His lips drew into a hard line and before you could question his meaning, he supplied you with, “If it goes through the time-breach and travels to a different era, it’ll lose track of us.”

“And how do we get it to do that?”

“I don’t know that either.”

Narrowing your eyes, you drew in a long breath and said, “I’m hearing a lot of, _I-Don’t-Knows_ in this conversation…”

“Unfortunately, we’ve never really figured out how to beat it…”

_“We?”_

Eobard blinked then, and quickly pitched over the counter before smirking and saying, “Other speedsters. I’m not the only one out there.”

At that, you cocked your head and had to actually force your mouth to close… You were well aware that there were other speedsters out there, Barry being one of them, but there was something about this conversation and the way Eobard was readily watching you as if he expected you to dig deeper that had you making a mental note to pursue that topic later… For now, you had bigger things to worry about.

“So, what do we do now?” You asked before folding your hands over the counter.

He gave a few hard taps against the island surface with his fingers and then, without a hint of reluctance, his perceptive gaze fastened to you before briefly dropping to your mouth… And barely masking the wry smirk working its way through his lips, he drew in a slow breath and hunched over that counter, shoulders cocked and neck locked in place like a predator that was readying to tackle and maim its prey. There was a brief flash of teeth that seemed to make you brace for the impact of his orneriness and before you could blink, you were swept up in his bright red torrent…

You barely had time to register the feel of his strong arms wrapping around your waist before you were bouncing back with your spine flattening against a plush duvet. Blinking once, you jerked yourself to your elbows and quickly put it together… Eobard had snatched you up, zipped through his overly elaborate home and into the master bedroom to drop you down on the bed. And with him hovering at the edge with that crooked smirk of his, you quickly frowned and placed a bare foot flat against the cool, wet fabric of his shirt to hold him back; your heel sliding up his hard abdomen just seconds before his large hands wrapped around your ankle with a warm pressure that vibrated through your skin. With another predatory grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, his grip tightened and slid up your leg, causing your eyes to close and your head to drop back a bit before lowering your upper half back down to the bed because _fuck_ , his hands weren’t supposed to feel that good and he certainly wasn’t supposed to look like _that_ after running mach-whatever through a thunderstorm. But with him pitching over you, the wet droplets of rain falling and soaking through your clothes, you’d found that you were suddenly about as helpless as you had been over the last few weeks when he’d been your enemy instead of your… Whatever he was.

Another frown creased your brow… You weren’t really sure what to call him but without a doubt, you were completely confident that Eobard was _yours_ , especially now with his hands possessively grappling around your hips as he lowered himself to the bed; his knee dipping against the mattress and settling in the space between your legs before dropping forward and letting his lips fall to your collar to work his mouth up the column of your throat and give a hard suck against the skin.

Your head rolled against the duvet just seconds before your hands clapped over his hard, wet shoulders but it wasn’t until his chest pressed against yours that your eyes popped open; the feel of cold, drenched fabric soaking through your dry clothes, the sound of the thunder rattling the large windows in his bedroom and snapping you back into reality before curling your legs and digging your knees defensively into his sides which automatically caused him to tense. Barely brushing his thumbs over your hip bones, Eobard smoothed the flat of his tongue over your freshly marked skin in one slow stroke before shifting himself sideways and bracing his weight on his elbow; his hands sliding away and settling in the space between you.

Practically dragging your fingers through your hair, you sat straight up and forced a rough exhale through your chest before glancing down at Eobard, who was more or less buzzing at your side and staring directly at you through the darkness with only a flash of red lighting flaring through his dark blue irises and briefly illuminating his face before it vanished without a trace. Save for the sound of thunder tumbling through the house and his breathing as he huffed a stream of air through his nostrils, the room was unnervingly quiet and you weren’t sure if you were supposed to say something or pull the same stunt you’d been doing over the last few weeks, make some awkward excuse, and bolt…

_Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…_

And just when you slid yourself to the edge of the bed and set your stare on the door, you heard, “I’m sorry.”

That’s when your eyes fell back over Eobard’s silhouette just in time to see him kicking off his shoes and pushing himself upright to sit next to you… He settled easily enough and swung his legs over the end of the bed before running a hand through his drenched hair and turning his gaze toward the window to watch the raindrops rap steadily against the glass.

“I’ve been watching you for a long time…” He offered again, this time his voice lowering into a rough whisper before dipping his chin to his chest and letting out a short puff that resembled a chuckle. “And now you’re here… I just wanted it to feel real.”

Biting your lip and deciding not to scurry out of the room like the awkward mess that you were, you leaned in until your shoulder butted up against his and attempted to break the tension with a lighthearted, “That ring-wraith wasn’t real enough for you?”

Even through the obscure lighting, you could see pretty easily that he’d smirked and cocked an eyebrow… “They’re called time-wraiths, actually.”

“Wait…” You blinked then, and felt your spine seize through a slight fit of terror before asking, _“They?_ There’s more than _one?”_

Eobard clenched his eyes and dragged a deep breath through his nostrils before rolling his head toward you through the darkness… “They don’t know where we are and even if they did… Nothing’s going to happen to you. I can give you my word on that.”

“But if they did…” You started, shifting a bit closer than you were before and dropping a light grip over Eobard’s knee. “What would happen to _you?”_

With his stare suddenly blown wide, the flash of lightning flickering through the windows and catching against the whites of his eyes, Eobard looked directly at you and set his jaw before shaking his head and trying for, “I’ll adapt… No matter what happens, I’ll adapt just like I’ve done countless times before.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

Blinking once, Eobard shoved a breath through his lungs and forced a smile that made you feel anything but comforted before reaching for you in the dark and wrapping his long fingers around the back of your neck. You frowned and closed your eyes just seconds before he was there to peck at your bottom lip with a kiss that felt slow and unsteady like he was grasping for something only you could provide… So, unsure exactly what he needed, you lifted a hand to his face and swiped a quick line just underneath his eye with the pad of your thumb before opening you mouth a letting him glide his tongue against the inside of your upper lip. It was there for just a second and then, with amazing pressure that had you pressing your free hand flat into his chest, his digits wrapped tighter and slid up your neck until he was able to twist his fingers into the Y/H/C tresses at the base of your skull and smooth the flat of his tongue against yours in an unflinchingly broad stroke that seemed too needy for someone like him. And with a final swipe against the roof of your mouth, Eobard pulled back and slumped forward until his head bumped into the crook of your shoulder.

“You taste good.” He finally breathed against your skin, the movement of his lips tickling your neck and making you shudder.

_“Thanks…”_

Your brow furrowed even further after hearing how silly your response sounded but all the same, Eobard chuckled and said, “I’ll let you sleep for a while if you want.”

“What are _you_ going to do?”

He paused for just a minute minute, his hands finding your hips and rubbing hard circles through your jeans before answering, _“Drink.”_

“You should stay…” The words were out of your mouth before you had a chance to think about what you really wanted to say and you quickly gulped. His head lifted away from your shoulder and without hesitating, you pinched your bottom lip between your teeth and said, “You’ve got _me_ now… I don’t know what it was like before but you don’t have to be alone if you don’t want to be.”

He didn’t say anything and the silence had you scrambling to backpedal but before you could think up a way to recover, there was a burst of wind smacking into your face and chest and with a vibrat rush of red lightning circling you, you felt Eobard’s hands for a split second before you once more fell flat against the bed… Only this time, instead of being dropped at the foot with Eobard hovering over you, you were situated under the covers at the head and reclining back against a large pillow that had a way of swallowing around your shoulders. And with another pass of that familiar red zip, he was settling under the sheet with a fresh pair of dried clothes and dropping an arm over your ribs before tucking himself against your side.

Getting comfortable with the fact that you were literally about to snuggle up with Barry Allen’s arch enemy, you sunk into the bed, pulled the covers up to your chin and closed your eyes. 

And just as you started to doze off, you felt Eobar’s lips ghost over your shoulder before hearing him whisper, “I’m sorry I’m not your hero.”

At that, your eyes fluttered open and you turned your head until you were facing him… He might not have been the hero and he might not have been anywhere near good to you or the rest of your team for however long he’d been spinning his web of lies but he wasn’t _bad_ either. Even if you couldn’t put your finger on it, you knew he wasn’t too far gone.

“You’re a good man…” You said, wrapping your hands around his forearm just as he started holding tighter. “And that’s all I need.”

He huffed then, and pushed another kiss against the knob in your shoulder before saying, “I’ll never be _good_. And that’s okay…” He paused and ran his hand firmly around your waist to really feel you one last time as if whatever he was going to say next was going to make you run as far away as you could. “But I’ll never be good enough for _you_ and that… That’s unforgivable.”

Flipping onto your side and snaking your limbs around his neck, you scooted in, buried your face into his chest and said, “You may not be _good_ but you’re more than enough. And you’re the only one I want.”

A low chuckle rumbled through his chest and he quickly palmed at your lower back, hooking one of his ankles around your calf and pushing forward to kiss you again but he stopped just a breath away and let a shaky exhale warm your lips before saying, “How are you so hazardous?”

_“What?”_

Eobard didn’t bother giving you an answer, only gripped at the hem of your tank and dragged you closer until you were chest to chest and kissing hard enough to leave your lips swollen for morning… When he finally tore away and placed that last lingering peck to the tip of your nose, he said, “Go to sleep…”

* * *

It was nearly six in the morning when your phone started chiming through the high-energy ringtone that you were now regretting; the grate of that little beat causing you to roll half-asleep in Eobard’s embrace and grope blindly beneath the covers to find the damn thing before it woke him… But with Eobard’s arms circling your waist and a low growl tumbling through his throat, it was probably too late…

“Sorry.” You muttered, finally tracking the vibrations and wrapping your fingers around your cell  before settling back in and pressing the receiver to your ear. _“Hello?”_

“Hey, um… _Y/N?”_

 _“Barry?”_ Came your quick response after hearing the concern lacing his tone, which caused Eobard to lift his tired head and squint in your direction. He didn’t typically call this early in the morning and on top of the unusual stress tinging his usual happy-go-lucky voice, you weren’t sure if you were supposed to worry or kill him for waking you up. “Is everything okay?”

“Fine, just… Have been to the lab recently or…?”

“Um…” You tried, but after feeling Eobard’s weight shift at your side, you glanced sideways to see him propping up on an elbow and thumbing at his eyes. And that was normal until his dark, blue gaze locked onto you… “I uh…” You started again, watching with a knit brow as he slid closer and hooked an arm around your middle, causing you to arch your back away from the bed in order to help him get his limb fully underneath your upper half. “Not since yesterday. _Why?”_

“Nothing. I guess… There’s just a lot of stuff that seems kind of off.” You could hear Barry shuffling papers through the receiver before he asked, “Did you lock up last night?”

“Well, the security system was…” Your voice got lodged somewhere in the back of your throat after feeling the fingers of Eobard’s free hand hook around the strap of your tank and pull it over your shoulder. “The security system was set for the usual lock up time so… Unless there was-ah!”

Your hand shot to the top of Eobard’s head and you quickly gripped his hair to pull him away from your shoulder but with a smirk, he stayed in place and lapped a warm line over the bite mark he’d just given you before shifting again and pulling you closer.

_“Y/N?”_

“Yeah… _Um_ …” With another frown, you glared at Eobard who was looking smug as ever and dropping his mouth back to your throat, which instantly caused you to lull your head against the pillow and swallow down a deep breath before forcing a jittery, “The lab was locked.” 

It was quiet on the other end of the call for a long time until finally you heard Barry ask, “Are you… Are you with someone?”

_Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…_

“What? _No!”_ Your response was too fast and far louder than the rest of the conversation had been thus far and it had Eobard lifting his head and cocking a brow. “I mean… I’m-”

“Okay, look…” Barry said, huffing and rustling around on his phone. “Don’t answer that and maybe when you’re done doing… Whatever you’re _doing_ , you could come in and help me out.”

“Sure.” There was a muffled click and suddenly the call dropped off into silence and without hesitating, you flicked your wrist and lightly heaved your phone to the end of the bed before saying, “You’re a jerk.”

“And you’re lovely.” He purred with a self-sure smile as he rolled away and landed on his back to stare up at the ceiling.

“He sounded kind of weird…” You finally said after it had been quiet for too long.

“He happens to _be_ weird.” 

Biting your lip, you pushed yourself upright and fixed your tank strap before glancing down at Eobard who was now all but glaring toward the elaborate, very modern looking light fixture hanging above his bed… “Do you hate him?”

He scoffed then, and flicked his eyes back toward you before reaching out to run his fingers up your spine, the slow drag of his nails grazing through the soft fabric of your tank and causing your skin to permeate a line of goose bumps in the wake of his touch… “To put it simply, my feelings toward Barry are complicated and it’s going to take me a very long time to reach the end of that labyrinth.”

“So, that’s a _yes.”_

“It wasn’t a _no…_ ” He supplied, shooting you another smile that was anything but sunny. “Are you needed at the lab?”

“Apparently.”

At that Eobard drew in a breath and said, “You know, that wraith is still looking for us…”

“Didn’t you lure it away from the lab?” You asked, your eyes going wide after suddenly realizing it might still be lurking in the corridors and it could very well mistake Barry for the _wrong_ speedster.

His fingers stilled against your back for just a moment before he began drawing soothing circles through the fabric of your tank almost as if to make an attempt to shift his digits around the tension that was now shooting through your body. _“Yes_ … But it knows I frequent there and it may come back.”

 _“Oh.”_ Blinking down at him, you held his stare for a long time until at length he was pulling away to move to the edge of the bed and swing his legs over the side. “Where are you going?”

“The lab…” He answered, running his hands over his face and mounting a groggy stance. “Barry might need help.”

* * *

By the time you were standing in the cortex and toeing at the shattered glass shards from a case of now broken beakers, both you and Eobard had determined enough about the mess around you to know something was _way_ off… And it was so much worse than whatever Barry was trying to tell you over the phone. _That_ , or it had changed somewhere in between hanging up and walking into S.T.A.R. Labs because with busted monitors, countless papers that had been strung from one end of the room to the other, and the flickering lights that were buzzing through charges of electricity, something told you that wraith wasn’t too far off.

 _“Barry?!”_ You called, almost frantically before Thawne wrapped his hand around your bicep and tugged you hard enough to pull you right into his lap. With a grunt, you landed overtop his thighs and somehow managed to catch yourself and brace your weight on the armrests of his wheelchair; your noses touching as you looked down to find him narrowing his stare and grinding his teeth. “Barry’s not… That wraith might’ve-”

 _“Shut up…”_ He seethed with a menacing glare that had your whole body trembling and you weren’t sure if it was because of his ability to flip that villain switch and pin you beneath you a look that could literally render you into a mess of tears or if it was because you were terrified that time-wraith might have actually _hurt_ Barry…  Or worse.

Either way, you found yourself adjusting to press your hands into the solid wall of his chest before nodding and muttering out a half-panicked apology because, _yes_ … Hollering out in the middle of this mess might have been a horrible idea, even if you _were_ worried about Barry.

Loosening his grip and smoothing the flat of his palm down your arm as if to sooth where he’d snatched too hard, Eobard coiled a limb around your waist and leaned forward to press his lips to the shell of your ear and grind out a rough, _“Don’t make a sound.”_

You were about to apologize again but based on Eobard’s strict posture as his chest pressed into yours, you were suddenly blinking dumbly at the realization that he was _listening_ for something. And with his attention snapping toward the corridor, your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt to brace for the impact of whatever was coming next but instead of a hollow-eyed wraith moving through the entrance of the cortex, there was a pass of gold lightning whipping into the room and causing you both to duck beneath the pressure from the blast of wind that followed. There was a moment of silence after the papers that had been lying around the lab finally settled and drifted back to the ground and there, standing just a few feet away from Eobard’s chair, was Barry Allen… He may have been confused, what with his brow buckling into a hard line and his big eyes shuttering in disbelief as he watched you crane your neck in his direction and shift around on what he _thought_ was Harrison Wells’ lap, but he was fine. There wasn’t a single hair out of place and _that_ had you hopping off of Eobard’s chair and rushing toward him to fling your arms around his neck.

“You’re okay!” You beamed.

“Yeah… I…” He started, awkwardly reciprocating your embrace before shaking his head and pulling back to tilt his chin in Eobard’s direction. “Wait… _You_ were who she was with earlier?”

“It’s not what you think.” Thawne, or better yet Wells in Barry’s mind, answered. “Well, actually… It _is_. Just not in the _way_ you think.”

“Right. No, that’s… I mean, whatever you guys do is totally up to you.” He tried with a pink blush heating through the tips of his ears before shrugging a shoulder and pulling away from you like he suddenly wasn’t really allowed to be touching you anymore now that he knew you were dating the boss. “It’s definitely a surprise but… No, yeah, not in a _bad_ way.” He finalized quickly. “I just didn’t see that coming.” 

“There’s a lot of things you don’t see coming, Barry…” Thawne snarked with a levelheaded smirk that had a way of making your stomach churn because no matter how many times Eobard had kissed you senseless, deep down, he was still the Reverse Flash and any hard feelings toward Barry Allen that were seated in the depths within, were going to be harder to overcome than just whispered promises from last night when he giving you every piece of his beautifully ravaged heart.

 _“Hey…”_ You scolded gently, which automatically caused Eobard’s eyes to dart away from Barry and land on you before the hardened lines of his irises softened and his lids flickered to a close.

Shifting in his chair, he sucked in a deep breath that seemed almost endless as it inflated his lungs before opening his eyes and turning his gaze back on Barry. “Do you have a good explanation as to why the lab looks like… _This?”_

“I didn’t do it.” Barry said quickly as if he’d been caught throwing some wild house party while his parents were out of town. “I dropped by to grab one of those super-charged energy bars before work and when I walked in, I got _this.”_ He turned a bit and gestured to the lights and broken screens behind him. “I checked the pipeline though… Nobody got out so-”

 _“Great!_ ” You cut, your voice pitched high enough to make both Barry and Eobard jump as you backed toward the door. “It was probably some kids who broke in or something stupid… Looks like there’s just a little bit of a mess to clean up so, I’ll get right on that if you want to head out.”

“You don’t want help?”

“Nope…” You forced a laugh and nervously tapped your foot before jerking a thumb toward the corridor. “I got it.”

“It’ll literally take me like two seconds.” He reasoned before a cocky smirk curled through his lip. “I’m the Flash.”

“Um…” You tried, now worrying your bottom lip between your teeth. You knew the lab wasn’t vandalized by random teenagers and you knew Barry could have everything picked up with one pass of his speed but _fuck_ … If that wraith showed up, there wouldn’t be much any of you could do to stop it and you couldn’t exactly explain yourself without outing Eobard’s little secret and if you could help it, you’d definitely be taking the identity of the Reverse Flash to your grave… 

And that day might’ve been a little sooner than you thought because just when you sucked in another breath to try to convince Barry that you were more than capable of cleaning the lab by yourself without the aid of super speed, you heard the indicating sound of a nearby wraith’s vibration suddenly roll through the cortex and quickly snapped your wide-eyed stare onto Eobard, who looked about as horrified as you felt, what with his mouth gaping and his hands white-knuckling around the armrests of his wheelchair.

 _“Come here…”_ He ordered with that biting tone of his as he reached forward and waggled his fingers to encourage you to move toward him.

And okay, you didn’t need to be told twice, not with the sound of that earth shattering buzz growing louder and louder and filling your ears and certainly not with the sheer look of terror in Eobard’s eyes… But the minute you took a step closer, you felt something cold slide over your shoulder before a tight grip, hard and unyielding, curled around your neck and wrenched back, causing your hands to instinctively begin clawing at whatever was grasping at your throat.

And in one quick move, right when whatever it was seized tighter against your windpipe and pulled back hard enough to knock you flat on the ground, there was a red stream of lightning whooshing overhead and crashing straight into what appeared to be a wraith. You rolled and braced yourself on all fours before quickly jerking your stare in the direction where Eobard’s torrent had begun frittering away to find him knocking it back with a punch against its rotting mouth that did little other than piss it off… A deafening shriek erupted through the cortex as it wailed it’s protest and with it’s teeth gnashing in a way that had Eobard jerking backwards, he twisted himself around and zipped back at your side to scoop you off the ground.

And without a hint of an explanation, he looked to Barry, who had been rendered into a stuttering mess as he pointed back and forth from Eobard to the wraith, and said, “Keep up with me, Allen…”

At that, you wrapped your arms around his neck and held fast as he tore through the lab as fast as he could with Barry Allen’s gold surge of light following close behind. You hardly had time to blink before the safety of Eobard’s arms were curling around your middle and holding you against his now vibrating chest; his body tipping forward a bit as he shot through the barrier that lead into that strange room with the pebbled walls and overly elaborate tech-system that was absolutely beyond you, what with it being from his time… Whenever the hell that actually was.

You were on your feet and clutching at his shoulders for purchase before you even realized he’d skidded to a halt and set you down; his hands pawing at your face and cupping your jaw before twisting and turning every which way to get a look at the dark, purple bruises now surrounding your neck.

“Look at me. _Fuck_ …” He muttered, running his fingers easily down the column of your now raw throat; his thumbs dragging lightly over the skin and eliciting a small bite of pain that made you wince and grip at his wrists before he bent forward to run his lips over the strange imprint around your neck. “There are scratch marks.”

You blinked and opened your mouth to ask why in the hell that thing still seemed to be targeting _you_ but before you were able, Barry’s golden stream shot through the wall and slammed straight into Eobard. It all happened so fast that you barely managed to register that you were standing in the middle of an all out brawl between two speedsters as red and gold blurs of light zipped circles around you until Barry had Eobard by the throat and was slamming him to the very same pebbled wall that he had you against last night.

“Barry!” You barked, booking toward him and doing everything in your power to pry his hands away from Eobard’s throat. “Barry stop! This isn’t what you think!”

_“This isn’t the Reverse Flash?!”_

_“Barry!”_ You tried again, now using your nails and dragging red patterns down his arms as you continued making in effort to free Eobard. “Please… This… I can explain everything just let him _go!”_

“Better let up, Barry.” Came Thawne’s lofty rasp as he swallowed tightly against Barry’s unforgiving grip.

Gritting his teeth and practically pushing his thumbs into Eobard’s jugular for good measure, Barry clenched his eyes and jerked himself away before rounding on you and barking out, “Y/N you _cant_ … You _cannot_ be around him… How could you… How long have…”

 _“Barry.”_ Thawne snapped as he braced himself against the wall, his voice low and scraping through his throat now that Barry had all but choked the life right out of him. “She had nothing to do with this.”

At that, Barry turned; his habitually good-natured eyes hardening as he locked onto Thawne and growled out, “So this is you… All that time it was _you.”_

Braving a glance in your direction that only lasted a moment, Eobard gave a hard swallow and answered, _“Yes.”_

With bared teeth and clenched his eyes, Barry balled his hands and quickly pressed his fists against his forehead… 

“We can’t do this now… I know…” You tried, reaching out to clutch at Barry’s sleeve only to have him literally jerk away from your grasp as if you’d burned him… In way, you _did_ but before last night, you weren’t really sure how to explain that you were only trying to _protect_ him. 

Pulling his hands away from his face, Barry shook his head and pursed his lips before slowly responding with, “How can I even look at you?”

You had to actually force yourself not to flinch under the impact of his hushed tone, so broken and injured as an unresponsive impression floated through his dark eyes. “I’m sorry… I…”

He shook his head again before crossing his arms and taking a step back as if he was about to zip through the wall and run far, far away from all of this…

 _“No-Wait!”_ Without thinking, both of your hands clasped around one of his arms before you started trying to work around the sob bubbling up your throat… “I know this hurts. And I know you’ll never forgive me and… I can’t blame you for that but…” You sniffled a bit and watched as Barry closed his eyes once more; his limb stiffening in your hold as if he was forcing himself to stand completely still and keep from pulling away. “That thing is out there right now and it could hurt somebody. We need to stop it and… And we can’t do that without _you.”_

His eyes snapped open, and with a look of rage, his gaze landed on you before snarling, _“You’re asking me for help…”_

“I've… I know I’ve been a _horrible_ friend and I hurt you…. And if you wanna hate me, I’ll understand.” You started again, finally releasing Barry and wiping at your glassy eyes. “But this thing is dangerous and the city still needs The Flash. We don’t know how to stop it…”

“Barry…” Thawne muttered, causing Allen to look to him with nothing short of a dangerous glare as he continued shaking his head and trying in vain to wrap his mind around the fact that you both had been lying to him. “She had nothing to do with _any_ of this. This is all on me.”

At that, Barry was quiet for a short time before forcing a heated, “I’ll help… But when we’re done…” His voice dropped off and with something dark moving through his eyes, he looked directly at you and finished, “I want you gone.”

Without knowing where to go or where to even begin packing up and leaving your life behind, you bit your lip and gave a hurried nod before whispering, “I can do that…”

“And as for _you_ …” Barry growled, now rounding back on Eobard. “This doesn’t change anything. You’ll get yours.”

“Catch me if you can.” He snarked with his head cocking to the side and a wicked smirk twisting through his mouth.

Barry clenched jaw and visibly had to force himself to tear his glare away from Thawne before roughly asking, “So, that _wraith_. Do I want to know where it came from…?”

“I… the future. I think?” You answered, looking to Eobard for confirmation only to have him shrug a shoulder.

“What does it want?”

 _“Me…”_ Thawne stated.

“It can have you.” Barry grit with a perfectly practiced set of fuck-you eyes that had pinned Eobard in place.

“It can’t find me…” He said, flicking his pretty blue eyes in your direction. “So, it’s been tracking _her.”_

“How do we stop it?”

“We don’t. But here’s the real kicker… You see _fate_ \- fate’s tricky.“ Eobard answered, reaching into his back pocket and withdrawing a golden ring with the Flash insignia etched into the top before slipping it over the middle finger of his left hand and turning to press his fist into one of the pebbles in the wall behind him. On command, the barrier began to unfold and reveal a hidden chamber within the mouth of this new opening; a large, glass case in the very center that had been designed to house the Reverse Flash suit. With an amused snort after both you and Barry instinctively moved back, Eobard stepped in and pressed the center of that ring into the locking mechanism on the case and waited for the doors to slide open before saying, “I came here to destroy you, _Flash_. And then…” He huffed again, this time with an astonished smile tugging at his lips as if he was completely dumbstruck by whatever he was about to say. “And then one little girl with endless warmth and light… One little girl with a set big enough to take on the Reverse Flash and pardon him from all the wrongdoing in his past or future has him respinning a carefully crafted web of lies just to build a new life with people he can’t stand and be stuck in an era he hates.” He gave a quick glance in your direction and said, “All to be with her… And to make matters worse, two speedsters who are destined to be enemies are suddenly working together.” With his eyes hardening to flick toward Barry, he asked, “Tell me, Barry… Does that story have you anywhere near as frustrated as I am?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Barry bit, glaring between both you and Thawne.

“We don’t _stop_ that time-wraith, mister Allen. But we can lure it away…” Eobard supplied, making to reach for his suit.

“How?”

“We can feed off each other’s speed and if we can go fast enough, we’ll create a time-breach.” He stopped in mid-grab, just moments after the tips of his fingers touched the yellow of his cowl and quickly grit his teeth before those intense blue eyes, hard and bitter, cut toward Barry once more. “And to be clear… The fact that you and I are joining forces to battle a common enemy doesn’t change anything. I hate you, Barry… Nothing is forgiven.”

“That makes two of us.” Barry growled with sheer ire bleeding through his narrowing stare.

_“Suit up…”_


End file.
